


Static

by hair_as_white_as_snow



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Depression, Dissociative Identity Disorder, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-19 04:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3595752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hair_as_white_as_snow/pseuds/hair_as_white_as_snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukiyama Shuu didn't want to go to the psychiatric facility in the first place, but now that his mother has used her influence to admit him there indefinitely, he's stuck.</p><p>Kaneki Ken didn't ask for any of the things he went through. Originally admitted for severe mood swings, they soon determined a much worse prognosis. His memories are missing spaces and he feels as though he's lost all control.</p><p>When these two meet, how will their fates be intertwined?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Shuu, Tsukiyama Estate [Family Library]

_The glassy black of obsidian ink spilled onto the canvas and a freeze suddenly flooded his veins. First disbelief, then despair filled the aging man's face, his brows dropping downward and adding rather unflattering creases. "Oh, how will I ever-"_

"Dear god, what are you reading now?" a sickeningly sweet and utterly forced voice called from entrance.

Shuu, who had been turning the page in anticipation, winced, and a trace of red framed the outer edge of the page. Instead of answering, he merely raised the book from where it had been resting on his knees.

"You've read that book twice this month already... Why not find another?"

"I've read them all before," he replied softly, setting the book on the floor next to him and wiping his bleeding thumb on a handkerchief.

"Well then why not go out and find some new ones?" The lady began down the steps, her pastel dress gliding weightlessly behind her. "You know, I could have your father take you out to-"

"I'd rather just stay in here."

She scoffed and blew her mangled bangs from in front of her eyes before continuing, her heels sounding like half a horse galloping along the stone floor. When she reached him, she picked his book up from the ground and shut it, finally receiving Shuu's full attention.

"You lost my-"

"Honestly, Shuu, I thought I raised you better than this. All you ever do is read... _Read_! At your age, I had already started my own successful company with no help from friends, family, former loved ones..." She trailed off for a moment, a devious grin traveling across her the jarringly red lips, before recomposing herself. "And you- why, the most you've done is finish your daily lessons and return here."

His gaze lowered to the ground, slowly glazing over as she continued.

"You don't even sit with us for dinner some times! Honestly, you can't run from your life, Shuu. Sitting here, like an antisocial _wart_ , will get you nowhere in life. You have no real purpose, honey, and that really scares me." She bent down, holding her dress down against her thighs and giving her signature half-smile that had already won over more men than he could count. "You get it, don't you?"

"I understand..." he replied after a moment.

She smiled more genuinely, seeming content. "Then you know that you need to change-"

"I understand that you aren't going to leave me alone." Shuu stood up, retrieving the book from his mother's hand and heading for the exit. His arms dangled listlessly at his sides and his face was a blank slate. As he reached the door, he paused, hand grasping the door frame. His mother, watching in bewilderment from where he left her, straightened, hoping he would admit to his wrongs. Instead, a mere moment later, he disappeared into the hall.

Amongst the vintage wallpaper, Shuu's orchid-toned hair stood out vividly, which only helped to make it look more messy. His plaid gray shirt was a size too big, the sleeves bunching up low on his wrists and sliding further down as he walked, and he was missing his shoes, white socks dragging along the floor underneath his slacks. Each painting on the wall he walked past was dulled by shadows, although not within the squares of light filtering in from the windows. A mundane sight to any passerby.

Instead of continuing to a public room, Shuu went into his own, shut the door, and turned the lock.

The persistent sound of the miniature grandfather clock on his nightstand was ticking in its low, dull rhythm. As he listened, he let out a sigh and walked to his bed, where he collapsed onto a heap of blankets. The leathery cover of the book grazed the skin atop his hand as he turned onto his back, flattening onto the faux white leopard fur comforter.

" _Monsieur_ , are you in there?" A voice cooed from the outside of the door.

Rather than reply, he kept his gaze on the ceiling. There was a loud clatter and the muttering of curses before the maid had found the correct key and opened the door. The girl wore a typical maid's dress and seemed to be constantly shaking. Her chestnut hair was pulled up onto her head in a tight bun and her eyes were framed by large circular glasses. She shuffled forward, then turned her head away in realization.

"A-are you decent?"

"M-hmm." He hummed, closing his eyes.

"G-good. I'm sorry to have int-truded, but your m-m-mother seemed distraught. A-are you alright?"

"I'm okay."

"She seemed pretty-"

"I'm _f_ _ine_ , Myrtle."

"But your mother-"

"Why do you work for us anyways?"

Myrtle stood rigid.

"...E-excuse me?"

"If you're here because of money, I could give you what I have in my savings."

"M- _monsieur_ , I-"

"If you're here because of any sort of repayments or obligations, you can consider your duties fulfilled." Shuu stated as he sat up, running his fingers through his hair.

"I don't think you're-"

"But if," and the girl fell completely silent now, "you're here because you like working here... Then you're an idiot."

The maid studied Shuu warily. When he looked up and met her gaze, she saw in his eyes a lack of a sense of the liveliness she'd witnessed in him as he grew up.

"Pardon the intrusion," she stated once more, and then she left down the hall.

Shuu watched her shut the door and fell onto his back once more.

Down the hall, his mother was arguing loudly with a nervous sounding Myrtle. Shuu was sure he heard his name a few times, though he couldn't make out much else. He flinched as a slap could be heard, followed by an immediate yelp and more shouting from his mother. Then, there were more clicking of heels on the hard flooring. As he tensed, bracing himself for an outburst, the footsteps passed his door.

He exhaled in relief and turned over onto his side, folding the blanket across himself, trying to lower his heart rate. He let each of his breaths escape through his lips as he curled up into a ball, hugging his knees. It was nearly impossible for him to relax- Myrtle's stifled sobs disturbed the otherwise peaceful silence that had enveloped the estate.

Remembering the book, he felt around for it and picked it up, holding the cover to face him. Despite losing his place, he knew exactly what was to happen: the great artist, who had wasted his lifetime working on a painting made entirely out of words when examined closely, was to stare at the ruined art and find a new sort of inspiration. One of organic sorts.

"Shuu!"

He was so startled that he dropped the book, the corner landing hard in the crook of his arm. As he sat up and rubbed the area, the door clicked open and his mother emerged.

"Oh, sweetheart, we're all so _worried_  about you!" She exclaimed, sitting down at the foot of his bed. "Is there something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

 _Well, for starters, you're here_ , Shuu thought. But instead, he gave his mother the easy way out. "No, I'm alright. Just tired today is all."

She pursed her lips and looked him over. Then, as though she had decided something for herself, she stated while shaking her head, "no, I don't believe you and neither does your father. You know, him and I talked. We think it's in your best interest to get you checked out. Just," and she dragged the word out, "in case. So Myrtle will be escorting you on her own time to the nearest health clinic." She gave a forced smile, and Shuu knew that it wasn't even his mother's own idea.

He frowned and looked down at the comforter. _I don't want to... I don't want to..._  he told himself. But then, another thought occurred. _I won't have to see you..._

"Fine," he suddenly stated.

"I wasn't asking for your permission... Ah, well, as long as you know. Be ready by noon." She stood and brushed off her dress, as though being in his room had made it filthy.

"Oh, and one more thing," she called from the door. "Please bathe before you leave. We have a reputation to uphold."

With that, he was left in silence. And within the silence, he was able to find comfort within himself.

_

 

The next morning, Shuu woke to the sound of knocking.

 

" _Monsieur_ , I've prepared a light meal," Myrtle said gently. A moment later, the door opened and she came in with a tray of breakfast foods. Scrambled eggs, toast, and various berries. He looked at the tray and furrowed his brows before looking away.

"I'm not hungry."

"But you skipped dinner... With all due respect, that's not good for your health."

"Neither is wasting my time."

"Mons-"

"I'm going to get ready. I hope an hour will suffice?"

She blinked.

"Ah- sure, I guess..?"

With that, Shuu left, grabbing a change of clothes and a towel on his way out.

Down the hall and the second room to the left was Shuu's bathroom, the walls adorned with various flowers, pressed and framed, their names and meanings painted on the canvas background. The walls were painted with royal purple and baby blue stripes, the former much thicker than the latter. And, strangely enough for a bathroom, the room was lit by a crystal chandelier. He shut the door behind himself and stripped off his over sized clothes, throwing them into the woven laundry basket to be cleaned later. He then stepped into the tiled shower and turned on the water.

As he scrubbed away the oils on his skin, he wondered about the psychiatric facility his mother had talked about. Certainly there was nothing wrong with him, right? What he was feeling were _his_  feelings, not something someone could attempt to fix. He let out a long breath and massaged the shampoo into his scalp. _And if there is something wrong with me... Then what?_

When he finished, he dried himself off best he could and put on the outfit he had chosen- a dress shirt with a sweater that matched his lilac eyes. As he walked out, drying his hair with a towel, he noticed that the house was quiet again and managed a small smile. It was nice to see that peace had been somewhat restored.

"Ready?" Myrtle asked as she approached.

Shuu gave a nod and they left.

_

The doctor didn't do anything that Shuu found helpful. He asked him questions that seemed cliche ("how would you rate these feelings on a scale of one to ten?") and almost pointless. Somehow, he gathered that Shuu was depressed and that it would be beneficial to start medication.

When Myrtle called Mrs. Tsukiyama to ask if that was alright with her, she threw a fit and exclaimed that there was 'no way her son could be feeling that way' because of the 'lovely care and support' she had provided for him. She claimed that he needed much more help than a few pills and (after Myrtle has began to tear up and handed the phone to the doctor) bullied him into offering up the care professionals provided for patients staying in the psychiatric facility. Mrs. Tsukiyama thanked and praised The Lord for his guidance, promising to pay all expenses and then some for Shuu's admission.

 

This left Shuu speechless. He knew the real reason she had gone out of her way to ensure him a spot in the 'care of professionals.' She wanted to be rid of him. And now, she really didn't have to care for him at all. He was out of sight, out of mind, and the thought sickened him.

"Myrtle, can you take care of the formalities? I just want to take a little walk. I'll meet you at the car in a bit."

"A-alright. Be safe."

He gave a reassuring smile and walked out, wandering the halls.

The hospital was a place Shuu had always hated. It smelt of a variety of cleaning products and other sterile scents of the sorts that ultimately reminded him of the prick of childhood shots and vaccinations. Hospitals were meant for the ill and insane. Why was it that he belonged here too?

As he rounded a corner, he spotted someone with dark hair and a hideous slouch walking down the hall, hunched over a book with a worn spine. He stopped and watched him. _He doesn't look like he belongs either... And why is he in the psychiatric area?_

The dark haired boy looked up from his book and spotted Shuu staring, greeting him with an awkward smile.

"Something wrong?"

Shuu didn't know how to reply for a second, though after he regained his composer, he shook his head and asked, "what are you reading?"

"Oh. Just a novel I found, though it's not all that interesting so far. Most of it seems to be mindless violence."

"I see."

The boy made another point of smiling before going back to his reading, walking away.

_He seemed... Normal..._

Shuu frowned and made his way in the opposite direction, heading back outside, where he found Myrtle finishing a cigarette.

"Oh, monsieur, please don't tell your mother! If she finds out that I haven't qui-"

"I never saw anything. Let's just go."

Shuu was upset about being admitted to the facility. His mother still had to work out the formalities, so he had at least the night to enjoy the comforts of his own home, but after that he would be living with people who weren't in their right minds. Who knew how long that would last.

He had no idea how being admitted under false pretenses could end up benefiting him in a very real way.


	2. [Author's Note]

[Author's voice]

Alright, so I realize it's been honestly way too long since I originally posted and I need to update. I had't realized how hard this term would be and it's been keeping me from this. I plan on posting once summer starts (after next week) and continuing from there. I need to emphasize that I am NOT stopping this story. This is only the beginning.

I hope you all are willing to stay for the ride.


	3. [Another Author's Note!]

[Author's Voice]

Back at it again with the not updating! Heya fellas.

As you've probably noticed, I've been basically dead for three whole years. (Or rather not noticed for that exact reason, either way.) To make a long story short, highschool (which I've since graduated from) took pleasure in my pain and kept me from writing for a long time, and somewhere in that long time I lost the password to this account. On top of things, this account was made by a friend using her email in our naive and trusting days, which I didn't have the guts to ask for help resetting the password until she reminded me this existed because of a posted comment. Alright, maybe that wasn't making a long story short- to be fair, at least I finished that one!

I've hardly been in the Tokyo Ghoul fandom in a whiiile, and to boot I only remember fragments of my plan for this story, but I do still like the concepts I'd thought of. So if anyone's still around on here and would care for a bit more of my writing, bare with me and I may just have more content for you in coming time.

I'll try not to take three more years :p

Oh, and if you came here from my tumblr (which was formerly @hair-as-white-as-snow, then changed to @cardboard-demon), I'm on a new one nowadays. Catch me and my new content/interests @anchors-left-ashore on tumblr if you care to.

At any rate, if you bothered to read through all of this for any reason at all, thank you for your time and I hope you're having a fantastic morning/day/night!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know how this turned out? <3 Thanks for reading!


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